Language and Control in Children's Literature

In this important and timely study, Murray Knowles and Kristen Malmkjaer examine the work of some of our most popular 19th and 20th century children's writers in order to expose the persuasive power of language in children's literature. At the heart ofLanguage andControl in Children's Literaturelies two surveys of children's favorite readings, the first conducted in 1888, the other a hundred years later by the authors themselves. Using computer analyses of the vocabulary and grammar patterns in the most popular children's texts of each period, the authors examine the ways in which authors use language to inculcate a particular world view in the minds of their readers. This is an invaluable book for anyone concerned with language, literature, children and what they read.